Tag Archives: Bannock Crit

Kim shares her season wrap up, finishing strong and prepping for a fun off-season.

After over a month of blogging silence, I’ve decided to share a bit about my season wrap-up. I finished Cascade (my last posted race report) definitely bummed; I had wanted so badly for it to provide me with some solid results for my race resume, and instead it did the exact opposite. Read the rest on Kim’s blog.

Joan, one of our incredibly dedicated team leaders (you’ll see why if you don’t know Joan), can do it all and DOES it all. She races with her heart and amazing strength on the road and in the dirt. She’s an inspiration to her son and our teammates. She’s a leader and a hard worker. And when it comes time to contribute, she gives it all and inspires others to do the same. Here’s an example, and we’re sure there are many, of racers doing more than racing to make the cycling community an excellent one to be a part of.

This past Sunday (August 5th) was the Bannock Criterium. My team was lucky to partner with the Front Rangers Cycling Club to help organize and put on this race. Unlike last year there were only a couple of meetings with the FRCC prior to the race. We had limited involvement with a lot of the pre-race work other than passing out flyers the week prior to the race to all the businesses and condos, etc in the Golden Triangle area, which is actually a lot of fun. The big job for our team this year was to be there in numbers on race day and be prepared to work all day doing whatever needed to be done.

At 6:00 am on Sunday morning, I got up and headed done to Bannock. I arrived at 6:30am coffee in hand to see that the course was ready to go, fencing setup, haystacks laid out in dangerous corners/areas, streets swept, finish/start area ready to go, potholes and pavement cracks were marked, timing truck set up with all officials present, registration tables/chairs with boxes of supplies, folders, markers, signs, etc., volunteer tent with water, food, whatever else you could imagine needing but that you would have most likely forgotten – they had it there, everything. Jim Levy and his gang along with members of the Tribella Racing team were already busy and had been there since 4am!

I spent most of my day working on registering riders both pre-registered and walk-ups. I was amazed, when I sorted through the folders of the pre-registered riders. Cherie (one of Jim’s colleagues) had printed out each individual racers waiver form, then attached it to the number they would be assigned in the appropriate racing group folder, then alphabetized all the racers in that group and then the folders were sorted based on the starting letter of their last name. This had all been entered into the timing system and had only taken her until 2am that morning!!!Jim’s crew had spent Saturday evening working on the course and then most of the night getting all of the final details worked out so the race would run smoothly.

It was actually a lot of fun to meet and talk to all the riders and get them registered. Some of them in a hurry as they were late for their start, others willing to hang out and tell us how much they love the Bannock crit. Shortly before the start of the citizen’s race, a group of 14 people walked up to register. It was the Mike Nields family, all ages, who come and ride in the event every year. How cool is that!!

Besides working registration, I had the opportunity to distribute race primes and prize money, walk the course to feed all the other volunteers who had showed up to help, assist with obtaining the results and posting them and running errands to help out with anything else that needed to be done. I also was able to watch all my teammates race during the different races throughout the day in the Cat 4, SW45+ and Cat 1/2/3 races. By the end of the day, I truly had a greater appreciation of what it takes to put on a outstanding event and feel that the FRCC club does it well. The day started out with 350 pre-registered riders and ended up with 598 racers starting!!! How great is that for a race at the beginning of August.

Our only hiccup was the early racing results and primes lists being posted-but it was beyond the control of us or our race promoter so not really ‘our ‘hiccup but we did have to deal with it. This really hit home with me when I had to tell racers that I could not give them prize money or primes until the results were posted when they had been patiently waiting a while. Next time, I will certainly be more understanding and think that there is really a reason why all race teams should be involved with putting on at least one event per year.

I left at 6:30pm exhausted, but excited that everything had gone so well. Thanks to working with a wonderful group Front Rangers Cycling Club, all the great ladies on my team who came out and worked hard, all the other volunteers who volunteer just to make it happen and especially to all the racers who came out and supported our event.

Well…it’s been one year since I’ve been in Colorado. In that time, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some great women to ride with, have tried a new sport (cyclocross), enjoyed outdoor schools through my work (think boy or girl scouts for adults), traveled all over the Western Slope, finally visited Moab (and not Murfreesboro Outdoor and Bicycles in TN), incorporated mountain biking into my regular schedule, started dating a guy who drives a sprinter van (not the child molester kind), saw more snow than I have ever seen in my entire life, and developed some great friendships that go far beyond the bike. Each day, I wake up and hope not to become jaded or “used to” these mountains that I live near, despite hating them when in a hill climb or road race.

Sunday also marked my one-year anniversary of bike racing in Colorado. In 2010, I signed up for the Bannock Criterium not realizing what I was in for. Racing in Colorado is on a completely different plane. In Tennessee, the Cat 1 and 2 women raced with the men because there were so few of them; however, an abundance of 1’s and 2’s dominate the fields out here. I was a new Cat 3. I went from 600 ft elevation to nearly 6000 feet of elevation. I was scared out of my mind when I saw the field…and their legs.

Little did I know, that I would be racing with my future teammates, Vera and Joan. Even though I barely kept up and luckily didn’t get lapped, I knew I needed a MAJOR overhaul to my training if I wanted to be remotely competitive with all the talent out here.

This year I approached the race with a completely different attitude. Our race team was co-hosting it, and I have been racing with these same women week after week who put the hurtin’ on the year prior. Plus my major goal of the season-upgrade to a Cat 2 asap-was accomplished, so the pressure wasn’t there. BUT-there was one big snafu. My left leg had been hurting since I cramped on lap four of the Salida Road Race. It was entirely too early for me to cramp, but I attributed it to the lack of H20 the night before-choosing to hydrate with margaritas instead. Pushed through and finished the race vowing never to drink the night before a race again. As it turns out, it still hurt a week later–burning, stinging, not-normal hurt–and bruising started to show up too. No bueno.

Well, not racing wasn’t an option because I really wanted to do this course and had a teammate in the race who could do well. And quite honestly, I REALLY wanted an excuse to wear my new white skinsuit. So after warming up and talking with Vera, we determined if it started to hurt badly, I would take an insane flier and then get my first DNF.

Lined up on the exact opposite side I wanted, and had to get a good, fast start to get position into the first corner. Heard the whistle and took off. Got good position and then promptly floated to the back. My confidence was nil because I didn’t want my hamstring to snap or do something stupid because I was in pain and hurt myself or another rider. I rode conservatively for the first 20 minutes or so of the race until I realized that I could finish. The Map my Ride girls were trading off attacks nearly the entire race and Berta threw out a few as well. Vera closed one gap, I worked with ProDesign to close another and started making my way up near the front.

Then we hear the announcer call a $200 prime (we found out $200 value afterwards, very different) followed by Vera’s “oooh.” She and I were up front. Coming into turn 7 and up the hill, Vera moved right and laid the hammer down! She and Kasey Clark took off. Coming into the long stretch, Vera took the prime and much deserved. She must have held her sprint for 400 meters! She caused a split in the field and I moved up front to block. There was another group of 4 riders chasing Vera and Kasey. Had those 6 been able to work together, they would have definitely held the break to the finish.

The lap cards went to three laps to go, and made sure I didn’t get shuffled to the back while Cat pulled us up to catch Gwen who had just attacked as the break was caught. Lap two-no shuffling as the pace was still pretty high. Bell lap, Therese comes to the front and takes a MONSTER pull for her teammate. I was sitting 4th wheel as we came into turn 7. That’s when people started attacking the hill. My hamstring was tight but I gave it the ol’ college try. Definite separation in the field with both Map my Ride girls and a GS Boulder taking top 3. I sprinted it out with Shawnee and in the end, she had the better position and sprint. But 5th place with what I now know is a torn hamstring–I’ll take it!

What was most key in this race to me was positioning. It took a while to figure out where I wanted to be going into each turn despite this being my first ‘repeat’ race here. Also, being patient paid off. Though I anticipated on taking a little time off the bike to gear up for cross, my body determined otherwise. I’ll be off the bike for a while trying to get this sucker to heal. Next year, into my second anniversary, I’ll make sure to stretch a helluvalot more to prevent injury!

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Naked Women’s Racing was founded in November 2010 by three competitive cyclists passionate about women’s racing. The team has grown to include 100+ women in all categories of competitive cycling. The team competes in road, track, cyclocross, and mountain biking with national and state champions in each discipline. In 2012, the team incorporated a club to foster women who are cycling enthusiasts and thinking of trying out racing. The group of dedicated women athletes share a commitment to a healthy lifestyle through cycling as well as helping the Colorado community. Our goals are to encourage women to engage in a healthy lifestyle through the friendship, teamwork and fun that cycling offers; to assist in our community through our Ride for Reading service; to help others get to the next level through hard training and racing; to increase the visibility of our generous sponsors through participating in races, paid charity and team group rides while expecting our members to participate in social networking to provide positive support of our sponsors; and to be conscientious of our personal character on and off the bike so we can continue to promote the sport and our sponsors in a positive light while remaining “drama-free.”